Members of the Haverhill School Committee went behind closed doors this morning to meet with Haverhill Police to discuss issues related to last week’s report of a teenager with a gun at Haverhill High School.
A week ago, Monday, a 16-year-old Haverhill High sophomore was arrested by Haverhill Police and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, trespassing, carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and possession of a class E drug. As WHAV previously reported, the juvenile was one of several hundred at the Monument Street building July 29 when a security guard is said to have glimpsed him with the gun and he ran, allegedly tossing the weapon outside of campus. He was taken into custody about a mile away near the intersection of North Broadway and Broadway.
City councilors last night heard some details from Mayor James J. Fiorentini and school Superintendent Margaret Marotta. They learned there was no emergency 911 call from the school, there is not yet proof the item was actually a firearm and an initial school lockdown was quickly halted after the arrest. Key details omitted were a timeline of events, roles of school staff and whether emergency protocols were understood or followed.
The Safety Subcommittee was to have discussed “deployment of security personnel or devices or strategies with respect thereto; and/or to investigate charges of criminal misconduct or to consider the filing of criminal complaints.” Those attending were subcommittee Chairman Scott W. Wood Jr. and committee member Gail M. Sullivan, School Committee member Richard J. Rosa; Marotta, Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro, Deputy Chief Anthony Haugh and City Solicitor William D. Cox Jr.
WHAV, the only news outlet to attend this morning’s meeting, objected to the closed-door session, arguing that it may be impossible to separate information that ought to be public from nonpublic information.